Have We Moved the Dial on Loneliness?
A few years ago, I wrote about loneliness — how it threads through our communities, workplaces, and digital spaces. At the time, the UK had just appointed a Minister for Loneliness (a role since dropped). It felt like a turning point—a naming of something we all felt but rarely spoke about. Over the next few weeks I am going to write about the role of digital tech in loneliness from a range of angles.
So where are we now?
We’ve lived through a pandemic that magnified isolation in ways few anticipated. Work moved online, services went digital by default, and screens often replaced face-to-face moments. Awareness of loneliness may have grown—but action hasn’t always followed.
Global figures show loneliness is still widespread:
A 2024 Gallup poll last year found that 1 in 5 employees worldwide felt lonely “a lot” the previous day.
That same year, Harvard reported that 21% of U.S. adults regularly felt lonely.
In South Korea, the government committed NZD 500 million in early 2025 to address urban isolation—a signal that some nations are truly mobilising.
What about Aotearoa?
Here are some insights from a New Zealand Perspective:
Age Concern Auckland’s “Breaking Barriers” (2024) found that 59% of Auckland and Bay of Plenty residents over 65 recently felt lonely, with nearly a third feeling it “often or all the time”
The charity argued loneliness among older Kiwis is now “epidemic”—and has called for a dedicated Minister for Loneliness
Among younger demographics, The Spinoff (February 2025) reported that young people from lower-income households are twice as likely to feel lonely “most or all of the time” compared to their more affluent peers
Nationally, Loneliness NZ and the Let’s End Loneliness Coalition have emerged, providing support, peer mentoring, and community campaigning.
Research from the University of Canterbury revealed that 1 in 5 employees in NZ feel lonely at work — yet merely being present in an office doesn’t fix it; informal, social interactions play a more vital role
Finally, the Ageing Well National Science Challenge (2015–2024) has included significant investigation into Māori social wellbeing, loneliness in later life, and supportive community design.
These local insights underscore that loneliness here isn’t an imported issue—it’s homegrown and urgent.
Loneliness and Digital Tech
Technology complicates the picture, on one hand clinical trials are showing AI conversational companions have helped students reduce loneliness. On the other, other studies show increasing emotional dependence and loneliness among heavy ChatGPT users—suggesting technology alone isn’t the answer.
Over the next few weeks, we'll dive into five key dimensions of loneliness and the role of digital tech in our modern world:
Can AI really heal isolation, or deepen it?
What does loneliness in the workplace look like—and how can we redesign connection?
Why are today’s young people the loneliest generation?
Can digital technology help guide us toward collective wellbeing?
For now, I’ll leave you with a simple but powerful challenge: reach out today. Check in with someone—family, colleague, neighbour—just to be present. If you are feeling lonely yourself: reach out, there will be people you know even for a brief chat.
